State Activity 73 Percent Ahead of Year Ago; Foreclosure Rate in Top 5

IRVINE, Calif. – Dec. 11, 2006 – After two months of declines, foreclosures surged in Texas during November, up 40 percent from the 9,728 properties reported in October, and soaring 73 percent above the 7,912 properties in foreclosure reported for the same month last year, according to the RealtyTrac™ U.S. Foreclosure Market Report. The state reported a total of 13,664 properties entering some stage of foreclosure, a foreclosure rate of one new foreclosure filing for every 589 households.

RealtyTrac publishes the largest and most comprehensive national database of pre-foreclosure and foreclosure properties, with over 700,000 properties from nearly 2,500 counties across the country, and is the foreclosure data provider to MSN Real Estate, Yahoo! Real Estate and The Wall Street Journal’s Real Estate Journal.

“Overall, the Texas economy is doing better than the nation on average,” said James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac. “However, this latest surge in foreclosures statewide shows that individual homeowners are still having financial problems that can be attributed to a number of factors. Chief among them is rising debt — including escalating mortgage payments due to the resetting of interest rates on risky adjustable-rate mortgages used to purchase more house than they could really afford.”

Total foreclosures in Texas were more than 5,500 lower than national leader California, but more than 4,000 foreclosures ahead of third place Florida. The rest of the states rounding out the nation’s top 10 highest foreclosure totals include Ohio, Michigan, Georgia, Illinois, New Jersey, Colorado and New York.

After one month out of the nation’s top 10 state foreclosure rates, Texas moved back onto the list in a big way. Reporting one new foreclosure filing for every 589 households — 1.6 times the national average — the Lone Star state had the fifth highest rate in the nation for November.

Largest share of state foreclosure activity found in four counties

Total foreclosures in Dallas, Harris, Tarrant and Bexar counties combined accounted for 62 percent of all foreclosure activity in the state during November. DallasCounty had the state’s highest foreclosure total for the month, reporting 2,813 properties in some stage of the foreclosure process.

Dallas real estate agent Jon Callaway, a member of the RealtyTrac Agent Network™, believes lowering interest will help attract more first-time homebuyers back to the Dallas-Fort Worth market. Those first time homebuyers, along with steady investor activity, should help to soak up the extra inventory caused by foreclosures.

“High growth potential areas like Flower Mound, Southlake, Lewisville, Prosper, Frisco, Allen and McKinney show excellent investment potential for the long-term real estate investor,” he said. “Now would be the time to pull the trigger for speculation in the outlying areas of DFW.”

HarrisCounty reported 2,606 properties in the foreclosure process, the state’s second highest total. TarrantCounty had the state’s third highest total, reporting 1,981 properties in the process. BexarCounty reported 1,071 properties in the foreclosure pipeline, the state’s fourth highest total.

State’s highest foreclosure rate reported in Rockwall County

RockwallCounty posted the state’s highest foreclosure rate for November, with one new foreclosure filing for every 142 households — 4.1 times the state average and 6.8 times the national average. EllisCounty had the second highest rate in the state for the month, reporting one new filing for every 171 households — 3.5 times the state average and 5.6 times the national average. With one new filing for every 254 households, CollinCounty reported the state’s third highest foreclosure rate. DentonCounty reported one new filing for every 257 households, the state’s fourth highest foreclosure rate.

Texas a significant contributor to nation’s monthly total

Texas played a major role in the nation’s foreclosure activity for November, accounting for 11 percent of the 120,334 properties entering some stage of foreclosure nationwide. The national total represents an increase of 4 percent from the 115,568 foreclosures reported in October. The national foreclosure rate increased to one new foreclosure filing for every 961 households during the month.

The RealtyTrac Monthly U.S. Foreclosure Market Report provides the total number of homes in some stage of foreclosure nationwide, by state and by county. RealtyTrac’s report includes properties in all three phases of foreclosure: Pre-foreclosures — Notice of Default (NOD) and Lis Pendens (LIS); Foreclosures — Notice of Trustee Sale and Notice of Foreclosure Sale (NTS and NFS); and Real Estate Owned, or REO properties (that have been foreclosed on and repurchased by a bank).

For current news and information regarding foreclosure-related issues and trends, check out our blog at www.ForeclosurePulse.com.

Texas Foreclosure Market by County – November 2006

CountyName

NOD

NTS

NFS

LIS

REO

Total

1 in every # households

/NationalAverage

/StateAverage

United States

31,027

44,448

5,685

16,263

22,911

120,334

961

n/a

n/a

Texas

11

10,162

0

0

3,491

13,664

589

1.63

n/a

Anderson

0

1

0

0

0

1

18,436

0.05

0.03

Angelina

0

1

0

0

1

2

16,218

0.06

0.04

Aransas

0

0

0

0

0

0

n/a

0.00

0.00

Atascosa

0

0

0

0

4

4

3,721

0.26

0.16

Austin

0

1

0

0

0

1

10,205

0.09

0.06

Bandera

0

0

0

0

0

0

n/a

0.00

0.00

Bastrop

0

64

0

0

8

72

309

3.11

1.91

Bell

0

96

0

0

0

96

966

0.99

0.61

Bexar

0

1,036

0

0

35

1,071

393

2.44

1.50

Blanco

0

2

0

0

0

2

2,016

0.48

0.29

Bosque

0

0

0

0

0

0

n/a

0.00

0.00

Bowie

0

1

0

0

0

1

36,463

0.03

0.02

Brazoria

0

142

0

0

36

178

509

1.89

1.16

Brazos

0

1

0

0

17

18

3,279

0.29

0.18

Brown

0

0

0

0

0

0

n/a

0.00

0.00

Burnet

0

1

0

0

3

4

3,983

0.24

0.15

Caldwell

0

4

0

0

1

5

2,380

0.40

0.25

Callahan

0

0

0

0

0

0

n/a

0.00

0.00

Cameron

0

3

0

0

1

4

29,914

0.03

0.02

Carson

0

0

0

0

0

0

n/a

0.00

0.00

Cass

0

0

0

0

0

0

n/a

0.00

0.00

Chambers

0

3

0

0

3

6

1,723

0.56

0.34

Childress

0

0

0

0

0

0

n/a

0.00

0.00

Collin

0

598

0

0

169

767

254

3.78

2.32

Comal

0

71

0

0

11

82

399

2.41

1.48

Cooke

0

0

0

0

0

0

n/a

0.00

0.00

Coryell

0

3

0

0

0

3

7,259

0.13

0.08

Crosby

0

0

0

0

0

0

n/a

0.00

0.00

Dallas

1

2,304

0

0

508

2,813

304

3.16

1.94

Deaf Smith

0

1

0

0

0

1

6,914

0.14

0.09

Delta

0

1

0

0

0

1

2,410

0.40

0.24

Denton

0

517

0

0

136

653

257

3.73

2.29

Dickens

0

0

0

0

0

0

n/a

Eastland

0

1

0

0

0

1

9,547

0.10

0.06

Ector

0

1

0

0

0

1

49,500

0.02

0.01

El Paso

0

158

0

0

101

259

867

1.11

0.68

Ellis

0

168

0

0

61

229

171

5.63

3.45

Erath

0

0

0

0

0

0

n/a

0.00

0.00

Fayette

0

3

0

0

0

3

3,704

0.26

0.16

FortBend

0

341

0

0

115

456

254

3.78

2.32

Galveston

0

122

0

0

5

127

880

1.09

0.67

Gonzales

0

0

0

0

0

0

n/a

0.00

0.00

Gray

0

0

0

0

0

0

n/a

0.00

0.00

Grayson

0

2

0

0

13

15

3,221

0.30

0.18

Gregg

0

2

0

0

0

2

23,175

0.04

0.03

Grimes

0

0

0

0

1

1

9,490

0.10

0.06

Guadalupe

0

52

0

0

9

61

551

1.75

1.07

Hale

0

0

0

0

0

0

n/a

0.00

0.00

Hardeman

0

1

0

0

0

1

2,358

0.41

0.25

Hardin

0

1

0

0

0

1

19,836

0.05

0.03

Harris

4

1,729

0

0

873

2,606

498

1.93

1.18

Harrison

0

0

0

0

4

4

6,568

0.15

0.09

Hays

0

98

0

0

34

132

270

3.56

2.18

Henderson

0

1

0

0

15

16

2,246

0.43

0.26

Hidalgo

0

11

0

0

0

11

17,514

0.05

0.03

Hill

0

0

0

0

0

0

n/a

0.00

0.00

Hockley

0

0

0

0

0

0

n/a

0.00

0.00

Hood

0

0

0

0

5

5

3,821

0.25

0.15

Hopkins

0

1

0

0

0

1

14,020

0.07

0.04

Howard

0

1

0

0

0

1

13,589

0.07

0.04

Hunt

0

2

0

0

0

2

16,245

0.06

0.04

Jack

0

0

0

0

0

0

n/a

0.00

0.00

Jasper

1

1

0

0

0

2

8,288

0.12

0.07

Jefferson

1

125

0

0

20

146

699

1.37

0.84

Jim Wells

0

1

0

0

0

1

14,819

0.06

0.04

Johnson

0

12

0

0

26

38

1,218

0.79

0.48

Jones

0

0

0

0

0

0

n/a

0.00

0.00

Kaufman

0

71

0

0

11

82

319

3.02

1.85

Kendall

0

11

0

0

2

13

739

1.30

0.80

Lamar

0

0

0

0

0

0

n/a

0.00

0.00

Lamb

0

0

0

0

0

0

n/a

0.00

0.00

Lampasas

0

0

0

0

0

0

n/a

0.00

0.00

Liberty

0

1

0

0

19

20

1,318

0.73

0.45

Live Oak

0

0

0

0

0

0

n/a

0.00

0.00

Llano

0

0

0

0

0

0

n/a

0.00

0.00

Lubbock

0

4

0

0

0

4

25,149

0.04

0.02

Madison

0

0

0

0

0

0

n/a

0.00

0.00

Marion

0

0

0

0

0

0

n/a

0.00

0.00

Matagorda

0

0

0

0

0

0

n/a

0.00

0.00

Mclennan

0

6

0

0

29

35

2,423

0.40

0.24

Medina

0

13

0

0

0

13

1,140

0.84

0.52

Menard

0

0

0

0

0

0

n/a

0.00

0.00

Midland

0

1

0

0

8

9

5,120

0.19

0.12

Montgomery

1

216

0

0

104

321

351

2.74

1.68

Nacogdoches

0

0

0

0

0

0

n/a

0.00

0.00

Navarro

0

1

0

0

0

1

18,449

0.05

0.03

Nueces

0

5

0

0

71

76

1,619

0.59

0.36

Orange

0

0

0

0

5

5

6,956

0.14

0.08

Panola

0

0

0

0

0

0

n/a

0.00

0.00

Parker

0

2

0

0

36

38

897

1.07

0.66

Parmer

0

0

0

0

0

0

n/a

0.00

0.00

Polk

0

0

0

0

0

0

n/a

0.00

0.00

Potter

0

51

0

0

23

74

603

1.59

0.98

Randall

0

13

0

0

15

28

1,545

0.62

0.38

Refugio

0

1

0

0

0

1

3,669

0.26

0.16

Rockwall

0

107

0

0

1

108

142

6.76

4.14

Rusk

0

0

0

0

0

0

n/a

0.00

0.00

Sabine

0

1

0

0

0

1

7,659

0.13

0.08

San Augustine

0

0

0

0

0

0

n/a

0.00

0.00

San Jacinto

0

1

0

0

0

1

11,520

0.08

0.05

San Patricio

0

0

0

0

3

3

8,288

0.12

0.07

San Saba

0

0

0

0

0

0

n/a

0.00

0.00

Shackelford

0

0

0

0

0

0

n/a

0.00

0.00

Smith

0

1

0

0

13

14

5,122

0.19

0.12

Starr

0

0

0

0

0

0

n/a

0.00

0.00

Tarrant

3

1,222

0

0

756

1,981

286

3.36

2.06

Taylor

0

0

0

0

0

0

n/a

0.00

0.00

Titus

0

1

0

0

0

1

10,675

0.09

0.06

Tom Green

0

1

0

0

27

28

1,568

0.61

0.38

Travis

0

510

0

0

35

545

616

1.56

0.96

Trinity

0

0

0

0

1

1

8,141

0.12

0.07

Upshur

0

0

0

0

0

0

n/a

0.00

0.00

Uvalde

0

0

0

0

0

0

n/a

0.00

0.00

Val Verde

0

2

0

0

0

2

8,144

0.12

0.07

Van Zandt

0

0

0

0

2

2

10,448

0.09

0.06

Victoria

0

0

0

0

1

1

32,945

0.03

0.02

Walker

0

1

0

0

0

1

21,099

0.05

0.03

Waller

0

0

0

0

0

0

n/a

0.00

0.00

Webb

0

2

0

0

29

31

1,781

0.54

0.33

Wharton

0

1

0

0

0

1

16,606

0.06

0.04

Willacy

0

0

0

0

0

0

n/a

0.00

0.00

Williamson

0

228

0

0

77

305

296

3.24

1.99

Wilson

0

1

0

0

0

1

12,110

0.08

0.05

Wise

0

0

0

0

6

6

3,207

0.30

0.18

Wood

0

0

0

0

1

1

17,939

0.05

0.03

Yoakum

0

1

0

0

0

1

2,974

0.32

0.20

Zapata

0

0

0

0

1

1

6,167

0.16

0.10

Zavala

0

1

0

0

0

1

4,075

0.24

0.14

About RealtyTrac Inc.

Ranked as the third largest real estate site by MediaMetrix, and No. 53 on Inc. magazine’s 2006 Inc. 500 list of the nation’s fastest growing private companies, RealtyTrac Inc. (www.realtytrac.com), is the leading online marketplace for foreclosure properties, providing all the resources that home seekers, investors and real estate agents need to locate, evaluate and buy properties below market value.

Founded in 1996, RealtyTrac publishes the largest and most comprehensive national database of pre-foreclosure, foreclosure, For Sale By Owner, resale and new construction properties, with more than 1 million properties across the country, property reports, productivity tools and extensive professional resources. RealtyTrac hosts nearly 3 million unique visitors monthly and has been chosen to supply foreclosure data to MSN Real Estate, Yahoo! Real Estate and the Wall Street Journal’s Real Estate Journal. For more information, visit www.realtytrac.com.

About RealtyTrac

RealtyTrac® is the leading provider of comprehensive housing data and analytics for the real estate and financial services industries, Federal, state and local governments, academic institutions, and the media. Data is aggregated from parcel-level records of more than 125 million U.S. residential and commercial properties and delivered through customizable products including bulk file licensing, APIs and custom reports.